May 4, 2014

NYSB: How did the Asian Burlesque Spectacular start? What’s it all about?

Calamity Chang: ABC started with a conversation with Sukki Singaporawho is a co-producer of this event. Sukki, from Singapore, is very active in women’s rights in conservative Singapore so our conversation started on that thread, and a few Skype meetings later, the “Asian Burlesque Spectacular” was born. Sukki had always wanted to hold a giant burlesque show specifically for Asian or Asian origin performers, as a continuation from her society, The Singapore Burlesque Club (to promote and nurture Asian performers in environments where sometimes burlesque is a difficult choice, or perhaps not celebrated enough). We enlisted Thirsty Girl Productions (Jen Gapay) right away. With her acclaimed experience and finesse in producing, she was the obvious choice to help realize the dream.

NYSB: The Asian Burlesque Spectacular is in its second year now. What will differentiate the show from last year’s premiere?

NYSB: While show is all current performers, there is a strong element of homage to burlesque legends performers as Barbara Yung and Mei Ling. How important was that in so far as a production decision?

Calamity Chang: Tributes are important to us, because Asian burlesque legends were less well known and less celebrated than their Western counterparts. Last year Sukki and I did our tribute acts to Yung and Ling. Other performers did their own interpretation of what constitutes their “Asian-ness” or whether that is relevant to them as a performer. Having that variety added an interesting layer of texture to the show. That’s the key for us. We are not going around forcing people to do Asian acts or collecting acts to create some kind of hyper-sensitive, somber event. Some of the acts addressed current topics with a comedic twist. For example, last year Fancy Chance’s act was about a hungry Korean student and Stella Chuuu’s act was to Monty Python’s “I Love Chinese Food”. We also had Dame Cuchifrita’s beautiful and haunting piece which addressed the colonialization of Southeast Asian women and sexuality. Show us how your ethnicity has influenced you as a performer and the acts you create, or how it hasn’t. We also are in agreement that one does not have to be Asian to do an act that is Asian-inspired. It is important this year to not only grow the show, but also to celebrate Asian culture without making it inaccessible to any other cultural group. To quote The Shanghai Pearl, there is a difference between “appropriating” and “appreciating.” I don’t think people know the difference so ABS is trying to be part of the answer to that question.

NYSB: Asian women have always had to deal with a very specific Western stereotype and fetishization of their bodies. Do you feel like the platform of the Asian Burlesque Spectacular is able to comment or take away from some of that?

Calamity Chang: I will posit that Asian men are also grossly sexualized and diminutized by Western stereotypes quite possibly even worse. Asian men are constantly portrayed as nerds, under sexed, or gay in popular television whereas Asian women are oversexed, “sluts”, and sexual objects (i.e.: the Tila Tequilas). ABS gives us a platform in which we present ourselves, our bodies, and our own sexual projection on our own terms whether through allure, comedy or confrontation through the art form of burlesque and live performance theater. The blessing of working in a niche art form (versus Hollywood) is that we have control over how we are presented to the public.

NYSB: What are your hopes for for the future of The Asian Burlesque Spectacular?

Calamity Chang: We are working on taking it to the West Coast (San Francisco) and to the UK. We aim to turn this into a 2-3 day festival! The possibilities are endless. We’ve received so many inquiries since last year from interested Asian performers all over. ABS stands as a strong beacon of hope for many Asian women (and men) interested in burlesque but who may be afraid to pursue it because of cultural taboos. We are here to challenge those ideas and also to create new images of Asian sexuality.

To find out more on The Asian Burlesque Spectacular visit The event page

May 2, 2014

I know 3,000 Twitter followers is not a big deal to really famous people who have over K's of followers, but I am still very happy that my artistic work as a burlesque performer has garnered this many followers. I have a tradition that at every 1,000th mark, I release a semi-nudie photo of myself.

This release coincides with the 4th set in my Hotel Series on my web site, a series that I really enjoy doing in whatever hotel or motel I happen to be staying in overnight while traveling to perform or on a short weekend trip somewhere. We never use a fancy set up and only use natural light. Some sets I am wearing no makeup, some I have day time makeup, and no body makeup. We both enjoy the guerilla tactic of a photo challenge to work with what you got. And the best part? I get to tell you about the hotel!

This set was taken at The Atlantic in South Hamptons. It looks like it was an old motel at one point. You can see how old the faucets are and the carpeting in the room made me a little worried about putting my clothes on it or walking barefoot. The sheets smelled clean. The front desk was rude one day and nice the other. When Michael went to get batteries for the remote control (it was empty), the woman at the front desk snipped at him for not saying "Thank you." She said, "Thaaaaaank you." You can also hear every footstep above you, creak creak creakity creak all morning long. Luckily we weren't at the hotel that much anyway so it was fine for one night.

Photo by Michael Webb. Vintage hat from an old antique shop (name I forget but owned by a friendly older gentleman who seemed to know everything about everything) in Greenport, NY See the rest of Hotel Series >